Week of September 28, 2015

What a crazy week! It is now officially fall and luckily we are no longer having 100 degree weather haha. 

We were able to meet and teach more people, so that was awesome :) On Tuesday we had dinner with the Stevens family and they invited their neighbor over to meet with us! Her name is Judy and she is so sweet. She is looking for something spiritual about God and has been reading the Book of Mormon! She came to our bible study on post and the women's broadcast :) SHE IS GOLDEN.

Another amazing opportunity we had this week was meeting Liana. She is a mom of three kids and she has scoliosis. There family moved from Chicago and they are recovering from being homeless. We helped them out with dinner for the week; they are trying to get back on their two feet. We taught Liana the Restoration and the Spirit was definitely there, so that was an incredible experience :) 

While we were at her house I almost started crying because my heart was broken at their condition. I felt an overwhelming appreciation for all the things I have had growing up and even now. We really don't know how much we are blessed until it is taken away from us. The poverty down here is very tragic and it humbles me every day to know I have been blessed with so much.

Vickie and Jess haven't committed to much yet...but they said that they would watch the Joseph Smith Restoration video (because they love movies). I know that when they watch it they feel the truth of it :) They gave us peanut butter pie the other day and it tasted so good, and the recipe is really easy! The south is no joke big on food haha. I will come back knowing how to make the most awesome foods!

The women's broadcast was so incredible! It was the first one that I have seen that really stood out to me. The spirit was so strong! I am so grateful for the outstanding Women's organization in our church. There are a lot of different and good churches down here, but none of them have the amazing organization of sisterhood! 

I am also so excited for General Conference this weekend. The opportunity to hear the Prophet and Apostles speak is a blessing to all of us. I hope that yall have the chance to watch it, and invite others to watch it as well :) IT IS GOING TO BE SO GREAT.

Have a blessed week and I appreciate the uplifting messages yall are sending me!

Love,

Sister Cornia

I caught my first fish!  A bass.

Week of September 21st - Tracting in the Hood

Hey yall!

Everything is going great in Leesville, Louisiana. Angee still hasn't decided on a baptismal date but holy cow, she is so great! On Sunday she came to our Gospel Principles class and she already has a great foundation and love for God, I love it!! I am so excited to be with her on this journey in growing through the Gospel.

This week went by really fast! We had some opportunities with contacting people this week. We met this really sweet girl at Tina's Thrift Shop who just graduated high school. She is a Pentecostal. We shared some of the Plan of Salvation with her...she tried bashing us a little bit but I really feel like she has potential! We were driving around a neighborhood the other day and totally saw her outside mowing the lawn! There is no such thing as coincidences, so I really feel that we need to teach her.

Yesterday we tracted the hood...literally it was on Hood Lane. Hahah :) we met a really sweet older Catholic lady. I don't think she was much interested in our church but she said that she loved doing service!









While being in Louisiana I have come to realize how amazing diversity is. I am really starting to enjoy meeting people that are all different from one another. You can tell that we are all God's children. Although there are a lot of different faiths in this town, it is cool to see the light of Christ in  people! It motivates me to share the gospel even more :)

Last night we ate a Russian meal with the Mironenkos! They cooked us Borcht and Pelmeni! It tasted soooo good! Brother Mironenko is a cook in the army! He invited one of his army friends, who is also Russian, over last night. His name is Sarov! He was really cool. We shared the "Because of Him" video and the spirit was so strong! Sadly he had to leave right after, so we didn't have time to discuss it..but at least we planted a seed! He is moving back to New York so sadly, we will not be able to follow up. It was still a cool night, and no matter what the results are, it's always successful when you feel the spirit :)

This week I would like invite yall to watch the Because of Him video...even if you have already seen it WATCH IT AGAIN. This video is so great! It shows us that Christ is always reaching his hand out to us. He loves us. He will never leave us alone. All that we have to do is come unto him :)


LOVE YALL

Sister Cornia

​My district at the cutest restaurant ever! 

The bugs here are probably the worst thing ever...

Week of September 14th - Over Two Months in the Mission

Last week was my two month mark, which is so crazy! Time has been going by pretty fast. The weeks feel like days and the days feel like hours. The Louisiana life has been great and has kept me busy for sure. We have an investigator, Angee, who almost has a baptismal date :) I am so excited for her to make the step that will change the rest of her life. She is so great and makes the most amazing food for us!! I will have to watch out so that I don't gain any weight haha. 

This week we went to a zone meeting in Alexandria. It was nice because Leesville is a smaller town so they don't have a lot of food places or stores, so I got to eat Chick Fil A :)

This past week has been very trying and hard. I now know what it means when people say "a mission is the hardest thing I have ever done" because it is true! However, I have grown so, so much. And even though this has been pretty hard, I have not been going through it alone. It is a comfort to me to know that the Lord is on my side. There have been specific experiences that have happened to remind me that God is there and he DOES answer prayers...even a Louisiana missionary like me :) 

This week I want to challenge y'all to pray for something, anything. It could be for comfort, or for an answer. I promise that if you pray in faith, that God will answer your prayer because he loves each and every one of us! I love this Gospel and am so grateful for it. I love y'all so much and miss home a lot...but I know that this is where the Lord wants me right now. 

In 3 Nephi 15:9 it says "Behold I am the law, and the light. Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life."

I know that if we endure to the end, we will be able to live with our Heavenly Father again, and that will be more than worth all that we are going through now. 

Keep your heads up and feel free to email me and say hi :) I appreciate all the love and support.

Love,

Sister Amanda Cornia

Cotton fields in Leesville

Smoothy King: Louisiana's
Jamba Juice

Zone Conference in
Alexandria

Me and Sister Honey's
Paintings 

A member in our ward gave us 
these awesome face masks :)

Week of September 7th - No Update This Week

No post this week

Week of August 31st - Hey y'all :)

The cutest dogs ever fell asleep on my lap!

This week was really crazy and for some reason it didn't really go by fast either, but all is well! Last Monday there was a crazy storm and it was really scary. We were driving in the road and a parking lot was flooded! A huge 4x4 could barely get through it, so we went a different way haha. AND THEN there were these huge trees that blocked off some lanes in the roads because they were taken down by the storm....it was insane!




We also got 3 new investigators this week and that was really great :) Heavenly Father is definitely aware of us as missionaries and the people in Leesville. I went on my first exchange this week too! It was a good time. Sister Boehme came to Leesville and my companion went to Alexandria overnight.

On Saturday we did this service activity. We sorted shoes for Helping Hands and since they don't like Mormons we sorted them at a members house :)










Our P-day this week was today (Tuesday) because our transfer calls were yesterday. I MADE IT THROUGH A WHOLE TRANSFER :) no one in our district is getting transferred so there won't be any change.

Me and Krista (Member who
helped us with the blanket)!

This week we also finished the baby blanket for another member's baby in the ward!












The work has been slow but it is picking up :) I love the people that we are teaching and it is so great to be able to feel that Christlike love for them :) I hope y'all are doing well.

Love,
Sister Cornia